SOCRATES DEFENSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSrH_oqnrl0

I AM UPDATING THIS POST TO INCLUDE YANNI'S SONG "THE STORM." ENJOY! FOR THOSE THAT MAY NOT KNOW OUR HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BEGAN IN GREECE.

Speech I: Socrates' Defense
(1) Opening Remarks17a - 18a
17a
How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I
Jowett's Notes
cannot tell; but I know that they almost made me forget who I

was so persuasively did they speak; and yet they have hardly

uttered a word of truth. But of the many falsehoods told by


Law Court in Athens whereSocrates would have given this speech.Full View of Athens (207K)Artist: Ru Dien-Jen
them, there was one

which quite amazed

me; I mean when they

said that you should be

upon your guard and

not allow yourselves to

be deceived by the force

of my eloquence. To say this, when they were certain to be detected
Socrates begs to be allowed to speak in his accustomed manner.
as soon as I opened my lips and proved myself to be anything but
17b
a great speaker, did indeed appear to me most shameless unless

by the force of eloquence they mean the force of truth; for if such

their meaning, I admit that I am eloquent. But in how different

a way from theirs! Well, as I was saying, they have scarcely

spoken the truth at all; but from me you shall hear the whole

truth: not, however, delivered after their manner in a set

oration duly ornamented with words and phrases. No, by

heaven! but I shall use the words and arguments which occur

to me at the moment; for I am confident in the justice of my

cause: at my time of life I ought not to be appearing before

you, O men of Athens, in the character of a juvenile orator -

17c
let no one expect it of me. And I must beg of you to grant me

favor: If I defend myself in my accustomed manner, and you

hear me using the words which I have been in the habit of

using in the agora, at the tables of the money-changers, or


Ruins of the Agora Photo: Kevin T. Glowacki and Nancy Klein The Ancient City of Athens
anywhere else, I

would ask you not to

be surprised, and not

to interrupt me on this

account. For I am

more than seventy years

of age, and appearing

now for the first time in a court of law, I am quite a stranger to

17d
the language of the place; and therefore I would have you regard

me as if I were really a stranger, whom you would excuse if he

spoke in his native tongue, and after the fashion of his country:

18a
- Am I making an unfair request of you? Never mind the manner,
The judges must excuse Socrates if he defends himself in his own fashion.
which may or may not be good; but think only of thetruth of my
words, and give heed to that: let the speaker speak truly and
the judge decide justly.